Singing: The Mechanism and the Technic

Customer Reviews:

The converging point!.......2006-03-03

Since I have been doing extensive research on the voice lately, I have found that most authorities often mention this book. Vennard's widely-respected compendium will prove to be useful for every singer, beginner or full-fledged.

Simply none better.......2004-04-15

This book remains one of THE fundamental must-reads for all serious vocalists. Read it slowly and fully absorb it-even if you have to read it again and again.

The best and most complete.......2002-06-03

The title is misspelled here, it is Technic - not Technical.

Despite all the voice-teaching publications since 1967, this remains the clearest, the most common-sense, and the best learning-to-teach-voice tool besides the actual experience of teaching. No other publication on the voice even comes close.

Required Reading for Singing Teachers........2000-05-02

Mr. Vennard was the head of the voice department at USC. His book is fascinating reading for singers interested in understanding their vocal instruments, but it is essential study for voice teachers.

Voice teachers necessarily employ metaphor in teaching because so much of the human voice is controlled unconsciously. But such metaphors should be grounded in the facts of reality - in the known sciences that apply to vocal production. For instance, when a teacher tells a student, `don't swallow your tone', and is met only with a look of blank stupor, that teacher needs to be able to start talking facts instead of fantasy.

Mr. Vennard demystifies the metaphors. He systematically anchors the art of the teacher to the known sciences of tone, timbre and resonance, and especially to the physiognomy of the larynx, the breathing muscles, and the upper respiratory tract. After covering the basics, he includes extensive discussions of vowel and consonant production, as well as a number of important vocal exercises. He closes with a brief discussion of the technique of messa di voce. I say it is brief, but it is really the ultimate subject of the entire book.

Messa di voce is an ancient vocal exercise done on one note and on one breath: a long crescendo followed by a long diminuendo. But this simple exercise involves a fantastically complex coordination of muscles, and, while the student need not understand more than a tenth of the science behind it, his teacher should understand as much as possible.

Many teachers of singing, and perhaps most of them, do not feel the need for such tools as are available in Mr. Vennard's book, but I believe the best teachers do.

The ultimate, understandable source for voice production.......1998-06-17

This book demystifies the art of singing. You'll understand how centuries of well-meaning but unscientific voice teachers have confused students to this day. Get the facts now. All your questions answered. This book helped me smooth out four octaves with no break! Diagrams and throat photos are great. This book is indespensible for any voice coach or instructor or student.

Kinetic House-Tree-Person Drawings: K-H-T-P: An Interpretative Manual (K-H-T-P : An Interpretative Manual)

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An easy to use and understand assessment tool.
Excellent resource
A good tool
It works for me in Special Education: quick emotional test
An unproven laundry list for interpretation

Kinetic House-Tree-Person Drawings: K-H-T-P: An Interpretative Manual (K-H-T-P : An Interpretative Manual)
Burns
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 087630448X

Customer Reviews:

An easy to use and understand assessment tool. .......2007-02-13

Kinetic House-Tree-Person Drawings or K-H-T-P by Robert C. Burns of the Seattle Institute of Human Development, is an easy to use and understand interpretative manual for this popular, though still controversial, assessment technique.

Dr. Burn's theory for adding the Kinetic action-to-purpose element to the existing classical model, argues that action in the exercise and symbiosis of the projective components, interplay in creating a dynamic that can yield much more patient information than the standard traditional technique and paradigm.

Dr. Burns demonstrates his point by comparing and contrasting results from several classical model assessments of projective drawings with a kinetic model and interpretation. K-H-T-P is well written and organized providing rich examples of real illustrations for practice and reflection. It is an excellent tool and reference guide for all serious advanced students of psychology and for which assessment will be an important part of their practice.

For the serious student of projective techniques, I would recommend not to focus to much on the illustrations until you have read the concept and assessment techniques provided within and then take a turn at assessment and compare your effort with Dr. Burns final conclusions.

Excellent resource.......2007-01-11

Well presented and an excellent resource for those that utilize this easily administrated and effective assessment.

A good tool.......2004-02-01

I started using art projection when I was a psychologist for a child adolescent unit in a state hospital. A good way to engage angry or depressed children without threat is to ask them to draw something, unless they have poor perceptual motor skills. But getting them to draw will tell you something about that right away. It is important to know what to expect in average drawing skills and this book helps with that. It also gives a place to start with children who have difficulty with verbal expression. This is not the Be All- End All text but it is worthy of being a companion to other art evaluation tools. It is for the subjective anecdotal information to supplement the more objective tools.

It works for me in Special Education: quick emotional test.......2003-07-06

This is not the original I was trained to use but it works as well or better than Goodall's. I use it twice a year and have found the student responses are more in depth for interpretation than their psychoeducational or psychological reports. You can find more quickly where the "hope" level is and put energy into those who are reachable and refer those who aren't. I have collected hundreds of these samples over the years and find most are right on the mark. Of course, it mustn't be used as a diagnostic tool but it works well as a verifier of info.

An unproven laundry list for interpretation.......2001-06-10

For those who want easy answers to deciphering drawings, then this book is a *must read.* But reader beware-- this research is not particularly sound and the original text was written in the early 70's, approximately 30 years ago-- and this book was not significantly updated since then. Hello! Our family values and ideas about family have changed since then, but that is not addressed in this volume. An art therapist worth their salt does not use this type of unreliable assessment to work with clients. I apologize for disagreeing with the last reviewer, but I believe this volume is more of a *must avoid* rather than any type of a classic in the field of art therapy.

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An invaluable intellectual and cultural history of technology
Wordy
Worth the time spent reading!
Complete
The First Critique of the Myth of Technology

Technics & Civilization
Lewis Mumford
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 015688254X

Book Description

This is a history of the machine and a critical study of its effects on civilization. Mumford has drawn on every aspect of life to explain the machine and to trace its social results. "An extraordinarily wide-ranging, sensitive, and provocative book about a subject upon which philosophers have so far shed but little light" (Journal of Philosophy). Index; illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

An invaluable intellectual and cultural history of technology.......2006-08-08

Lewis Mumford's, Technics and Civilization, may be one of the most important and influential works concerning technological progress in Western Civilization and its cultural and environmental effects. The study covers a wide area of historical past stretching from the Roman Empire all the way to the present (1934). The importance of Mumford's study lies in the fact that it is not just another technophilic antiquarian study of technological improvement but rather it is an intelligent and highly critical look at the cultural development that gave rise to the machine and, from there, a critical study of how the "progress" of the machine affected the culture it was developing within. Mumford shows how the progression of the machine has affected nearly every aspect of human society including but not limited to sexuality, economy, ecology, warfare, occurrence of disease, and medicine.

The terminology surrounding matters of technology is not firmly defined and usually becomes a question of post-structural analysis when the meanings of these words are debated by academics in various fields of study. One of the main areas of confusion has been over the meaning of the word "tool" and the meaning of the word "machine." To quell confusion over the meaning of his own study, Mumford has given each word his own definition. According to Mumford: "[t]he tool lends it self to manipulation" while "[t]he machine lends it self to automatic action" (p.10). These definitions are important for understanding the meaning behind Mumford's study.

Mumford traces the cultural origins of the first machine, the mechanical clock, to the influences of monasticism and the Catholic teachings. The Church teachings of the early millennium stressed an extreme denial of the body which was viewed as sinful and polluted with the profanities of the earthly realm. Mumford believed that this denial of the body led to the growth of hatred for the organic which in turn fostered a cultural admiration for the machine as something that was disassociated from a polluted organic nature. Thus, as the first true machine, the mechanical clock fostered one of the original disassociations - the disassociation of time from the rhythms of nature. Although the Church teachings were based on the subjective belief in a utopian afterlife, the extreme denial of organic and natural earthly pleasures advocated by the early church caused an objective view of the organic to develop. By the 16th century the new protestant religion and the growth of objectivism coincided with what Mumford labeled the "disassociation of the animate and the mechanical" (p.31). This disassociation opened the floodgates for the objective sciences which were developing a common cultural understanding of the organic as merely a conglomeration of dead material to be studied and manipulated. The growth of objectivism coupled with the new protestant teachings, specifically the abandonment of the prohibition of usury, enabled the development of the early stages of capitalist economics by allowing God's work to be viewed as the accumulation of personal wealth. Not surprisingly, it was to the machine that these possessed western men turned to increase the production of wealth.

At this point in time, western civilization was in the first of three periods of technological development. Mumford labels these three stages based upon their method of energy production and organic material usage: the Eotechnic phase (based on water energy and wood), the Paleotechnic phase (based on coal energy and iron), and the Neotechnic phase (based on electricity and the alloys). Mumford explains that these stages overlap in many cases and should not be viewed as clean categories. Nevertheless, they do provide a useful framework for understanding the progression of the machine. The origins of capitalism occurred during the Eotechnic phase. Mumford finds the mine to be the central stimulant of Eotechnic technological progress. New mining technologies were created to extract increasing amounts of organic material to be converted into ever-increasing wealth for the emerging capitalist class. For Mumford, the Eotechnic phase cemented the alliance between capitalism and technology.

Soon, deforestation for fuel to be used in iron manufacture became a major cause for the progression into the Paleotechnic phase and the usage of coal as a primary energy source. Mumford labeled this Paleotechnic phase "The New Barbarism" (p.153). Although it decreased the levels of deforestation, the burning of coal ushered in profound environmental damage to the air and water. Through the use of coal and the development of steam power, production of iron and other goods increased exponentially at the expense of the emergent proletariat class. Mumford argued that this period gave birth to the "unsustainable society" (p.157) where military interests and warfare grew together with increased production and the need for continuous, escalating consumption, all of which were only possible due to the technological progress of the Paleotechnic period. As an example of this alliance, Mumford explains how the American Steel Manufacturing group deliberately destroyed the possibility of an arms reduction agreement, at the international arms conference of 1927, in order to maintain their profit share in the arms trade. (p.165).

The Neotechnic phase was ushered in with the spread of electricity as a power source at the beginning of the 19th century. The creation of electric power dramatically cleaned the air and water and the increased production enabled by the efficiency of electric power enabled another boom in the production of consumer items. However, the new phase also increased the power of those in control of technology, and Mumford shows how Neotechnic inventions such as the radio, photography, and the telephone were used by those in power to manipulate and manufacture consent in populations. Nevertheless, in the Neotechnic period, Mumford saw what he believed to be a possibility for the creation of a humane and compassionate society as well as a return to the organic.

Mumford saw the Paleotechnic phase as one that enabled and rewarded the anti-social characteristics of human nature, thus it inevitably created a society of inequality, increasing pollution, anomie, and warfare. Although Mumford was very aware of the destructive and anti-social record of technological progress, he refused to argue for the abandonment of the machine. Mumford stated that "lacking a cooperative social intelligence and good-will, our most refined technics promises no more for societies improvement..."(p.215). In this he is placing all the blame for the anti-social and ecologically genocidal effects of the machine on the economic organization of society. The problem with this analysis is that it is not teleologically secure. Written during the early years of the rise of Communism in the former Russian Kingdom, Mumford held out hope that, through Communism, the power of the machine could be harnessed to provide for the general welfare of society and that his hope in the future of technics would be born out. However, history has shown that technology in service of Communism, while it may help to normalize consumption, still produces many of the same destructive effects that it produced under capitalism - specifically militarism and environmental destruction. The hard reality is that Capitalism was not the cause of technological anti-socialism. Capitalism is a function of the same anti-social impulse that gave rise to technology - the will towards domination. Given the history of mechanical progress, it becomes essential to view technology as inherently anti-social. Rather than looking towards alternative methods of using machines of power to fix our world, as Mumford did, we should be thinking of and developing methods with which we can create a future world where machines and domination are not only unnecessairy but are also non-existant.

Wordy.......2005-06-01

This book is a historical interpretation of the effect of technology on society. Mumford traces the Industrial Revolution to its earliest roots, which he argues, go back to the invention of reliable timepieces in the Eleventh Century (whose invention was motivated, according to Mumford, by the need for recognizing prayer times in Catholic monasteries). Mumford also stresses the effects mining, the military, and the production of arms had on each other and on the development of technology, from earliest recorded history through modern times. Another recurrent theme is power, and how discoveries of new ways to harness power led to economic development. The final part of the book discusses the invention and assimilation of "the machine," as a generic concept for an advanced technology item. The book is illustrated with several sections of black-and-white photographs and reproductions of artwork. End material includes a chronology of inventions, a lengthy annotated bibliography, and an index.

In a discussion of the motivation behind invention, Mumford notes that "a good part of the mechanical elements in the day are attempts to counteract the effects of lengthening time and space distance. The refrigeration of eggs, for example, is an effort to space their distribution more uniformly than the hen herself is capable of doing...The accompanying pieces of mechanical apparatus do nothing to improve the product itself: refrigeration merely halts the process of decomposition." Is this progress? Although he originally wrote this book back in the 1930s, well before our present energy crises, Mumford was adamant that renewable energy sources must supply the power of the future. He is an advocate for wind and water energy, and he dreams of a day when the power of the sun can be used to generate electricity. Mumford is also disturbed by rampant consumerism. He quotes a Hoover Committee report on a survey of Recent Economics that states "The survey has proved conclusively, what has long been held theoretically to be true, that wants are almost insatiable; that one want makes way for another. The conclusion is that economically we have a boundless field before us; that there are new wants which will make way endlessly for newer wants, as fast as they are satisfied." Interesting points such as these, which sound remarkably fresh today, can be found scattered amongst the text. Unfortunately, however, such gems are overshadowed by the sheer volume of text. This book would benefit greatly from an abridgment that would bring out the best, most important ideas by eliminating the wordy asides and statements of personal opinion.

Worth the time spent reading!.......2003-09-04

Mumford has got to be one of the most over-looked (by main-stream) social critics of our time. He covers and unravels our confusing society so well, even though this book was written some time ago. Mumford's points ring quite true even in the 21st century.

Lengthy read but, for those who are serious about making sense of "why" things are they way they are here in the "civilized" world, Mumford is worth it.

Complete.......2002-05-14

From the beginning of time, technology has affected our lives. Learn how every invention (from the greatest milestone of them all: the clock) through history influences society and the way we live and think.

Excellent source for everyone wanting to reflect deeply on technology.

The First Critique of the Myth of Technology.......2000-11-24

Lewis Mumford is widely regarded as a critic of architecture, but his true importance in intellectual history is as a critic of technology and the myth of progress that accompanies technology, making it seem as if every technological advance is a step forward in civilization. That the events from 1945 onward dispute this claim would seem evident, but themselves are brushed over in favor of the prevailing paradigm.

Mumford was the first to take a critical look at technology and its accompanying mythos, and even though this book was later surpassed by his masterpiece, The Myth of the Machine, it is still worth reading for its approach to the tenor of its time (written during the Depression).

You can safely ignore the last chapters when Mumford attempts to offer an alternative to the technological society. Like most critics, he is mercifully short on alternatives. (Considering what alternatives were given humanity over the centuries, you can understand why I said that.) Until we truly understand technology and the role it has taken in our lives, we will be no closer to a solution than Mumford was in the Thirties.

Book Description

Lewis Mumford -- architectural critic, theorist of technology, urbanologist, city planner, cultural critic, historian, biographer, and philosopher -- was the author of more than thirty influential books, many of which expounded his views on the perils of urban sprawl and a society obsessed with "technics."

Featuring a new introduction by Casey Nelson Blake, this classic text provides the essence of Mumford's views on the distinct yet interpenetrating roles of technology and the arts in modern culture. Mumford contends that modern man's overemphasis on technics has contributed to the depersonalization and emptiness of much of twentieth-century life. He issues a call for a renewed respect for artistic impulses and achievements. His repeated insistence that technological development take the Human as its measure -- as well as his impassioned plea for humanity to make the most of its "splendid potentialities and promise" and reverse its progress toward anomie and destruction -- is ever more relevant as the new century dawns.

Technics and Praxis: A Philosophy of Technology (Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science)

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Technics and Praxis: A Philosophy of Technology (Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science)
Don. Ihde
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 9027709548

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Historic Details of Navaho Textiles
For Collectors of Antique Navajo Weavings
A book for scholars and truly dedicated weaving enthusiasts

Navaho Weaving: Its Technic and History
Charles A. Amsden
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Navajo Rugs: The Essential Guide

ASIN: 0486265374

Book Description

First published in 1934

Detailed and comprehensive study of the techniques of primitive weaving, from the building of the loom with materials at hand to the cleaning, carding and handling the raw wool from the sheared sheep

It is a remarkable accounting of a primitive people developing a most sophisticated skill.

At the time this book was first published in 1934, no non-Navajo Indian or Whiteman had ever developed the ability so beautifully displayed in this extraordinary art form.

No book has ever so carefully described this most ancient of crafts. Heavily illustrated. 7 color plates of masterpieces. Bibliography. Index. 460 pages. Soft cover only.

Customer Reviews:

Historic Details of Navaho Textiles.......2005-09-17

A must for any Navajo textile collector for its rich detail and painstaking description of techniques plus a valuable history of Navaho weaving. First published in 1934,this book would be a rare find if it were a First Edition or even hard cover of the second printing.
Navaho Weaving - Its Technic and Its History (sic)features 261 pp. of text, 123 pp. of illustrations including photos and renderings of over 100 blankets with a large fold-out color illustration of an old Chief White Antelope Blanket that is eight times larger than the book and colored magnificently. Printed from 14 handcut rubber blocks, this blanket's design is breathtaking.
The author, Charles Avery Amsden served as curator of The Southwest Museum and secretary and treasurer until he died in 1941. This book represents years of in-depth research written in amazing detail.
If you can find an affordable (around $50 as of 2005) second printing (circa 1969) perhaps even a library binding edition, you will still receive the book's First Edition effect of a stunning and rich reference tome. The paperback is a lesser version, as it has many of the illustrations shrunk, plus lacks the huge Saxony yard serape illustration.

For Collectors of Antique Navajo Weavings.......2001-08-03

Originally published in 1934, Amsden is considered the basic foundational text by authors writing on the history of Navajo blankets and rugs. While much new and helpful information has been written on Navajo weaving since then, most of these books used Amsden as original source material for much of their information. Pre-1940 Navajo blankets and rugs are among the most collectible artifacts in both the investment and art worlds today. Most all serious Indian art collectors, Native American Indian museum curators and related authors and academics will have a copy of this seminal work in their libraries.

Other recommendations: (1)Photos of antique blankets : "Navajo Textiles" The William Randolph Hearst Collection" by Nancy Blomberg; and (2)"Navajo Weaving Tradition" by Kaufman and Selser is one of the few "in print" books with and overview of the history of Navajo weaving. There is always a need for many more books in this area as so many titles are short run or specialty press issues. (Periodicals: (3) American Indian Art magazine with offices in Scottsdale, AZ publishes a quarterly and often features articles on early weavings.)

(Regarding other critiques of this book ; this is much more a book for collectors and investors and those interested in identifying and understanding the history and development of Navajo weavings and is not a "how to" book for those wishing to "learn to weave". Hobbyist shops have plenty of the latter available.)

A book for scholars and truly dedicated weaving enthusiasts.......2000-12-28

This is a very technical book on the subject of Navajo weaving, weaving techniques, and Southwest Indian History. It is written in a very formal, and in my opinion, dated style. The language is somewhat obtuse; many more words are used to share information than are required. All photos are black and white, probably because most came from very old, unrestored photos; as such,they are also of poor quality. Most picture captions are described as "plates", a very dated publishing practice. All of the above observations are why I say that it is perhaps most appropriate to a masters or doctoral student on indian or textile history and technique.

Since this book was on a recommended reading list on the web I am certain there is valuable information in this book for highly dedicated weaving enthusiasts. For instance, the book may go into detail about plants used for dying wool, even giving illustrations of those plants.

Customer Reviews:

a comprehensive wonder.......2007-08-12

Perhaps one of the best and most comprehensive book on scientific derivations available. Pretty much any word that you want to find is in the book with detailed explanations. I highly suggest this book for those who like studying languages and every science lab should have a copy available.

The real thing.......2002-06-16

It is somewhat hard to say this of a book of more than forty years old but this would seem to be indeed what it is cracked up to be, an indispensable reference for anybody interested in the composition of scientific words. I would expect that someone would have come up with something better in the time since the appearance of this book (it first appeared in 1927, reaching the present form in 1956). However everytime I have a question on a scientific word this book produces something useful, usually an answer to my question or otherwise some interesting new bit of information.

The only quible I have regards printing quality. The original typography is very ambitious in trying to condense so much information on a page and it suffered a little in this facsimile reprint. Even so printing quality is pretty decent, it is just that it is short of the crispness I would like to see.

THE authority for taxonomers.......1998-12-23

I am not sure how many people will read a review for book which is #174,000+ on Amazons list. It is certainly NOT a bestseller but it is a fantastic book nonetheless. If you are a taxonomer or just wish to know about word origins as used in scientific nomenclature, this book is for you. I must admit, I rarely use my copy but I have it when I do need it. Besides having derivations from Latin and Greek, it has explanations useful for people who may wish to synthesize words for scientific use. At times, it is fun to use this book as a guide and make up scientific words for the most mundane things - try it and see how wonderful something like a flyswatter can sound. Levity aside, this is THE 882 page authority on history of the English language, The nature of Greek and Latin and the formation of scientific terms.

12 Etudes for the Development of Technic and Style (for piano) (Schmidt's Educational Series, No. 4)

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12 Etudes for the Development of Technic and Style (for piano) (Schmidt's Educational Series, No. 4)
Edward MacDowell
Manufacturer: Arthur P. Schmidt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000WCVQTU

Product Description

Including various styles.

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ART AND TECHNICS
Lewis Mumford
Manufacturer: Columbia Univ. Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0000CICYZ

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Art and Technics
Lewis Mumford
Manufacturer: New York: Columbia University Press, 1952
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NZ5O9O

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